Assessing and improving wheat gluten quality with rheometric analysis

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a method of assessing rheology characteristics of vital wheat gluten to determine how to improve the quality of VWG product and the choice of VWG for a particular product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/415,277filed 31 Mar. 2009 entitled ASSESSING AND IMPROVING WHEAT GLUTEN QUALITYWITH RHEOMETRIC ANALYSIS, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 61/041,571 filed 1 Apr. 2008 entitled ASSESSING ANDIMPROVING WHEAT GLUTEN QUALITY WITH RHEOMETRIC ANALYSIS, both of whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD

Disclosed herein is a method of assessing rheology characteristics ofvital wheat gluten to determine how to improve the quality of thatproduct.

INTRODUCTION

Vital wheat gluten (VWG) is the protein in wheat flour that enablesdough to rise and bread to have a soft texture. If the VWG in flour ispoor or damaged, loaf volumes will be low and the bread will have adense texture. Therefore, VWG is added to many bread formulas to assuregood loaf quality. Flour with good gluten quality is said to have a goodstrength, while flour with poor gluten quality is weak.

VWG is isolated from wheat flour in a process that washes out the wheatstarch, leaving the gluten protein behind. After further purificationsteps the gluten is dried. The quality of the resulting gluten productwill depend upon first the initial quality of the gluten. in the wheatflour used as the raw material and secondly, upon the process used inextracting that gluten.

There are several methods to determine the quality of gluten. Forexample, a % protein measurement can be taken and, for most commercialglutens, this usually runs between 75-85%. This value does not, however,reveal the quality of the gluten. For example, the gluten could be fullydenatured, but still give the same apparent protein concentration.Another method, called gluten index, determines the amount of glutenthat does not wash away during a water wash and centrifugation. Thismethod gives further information, but does not always correlate withbread quality. Therefore, in order to test gluten quality manymanufactures bake test loaves of bread, which is a time consumingprocess.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein are methods of determining the quality of VWG withrheometric methods and for determining how to improve that VWG quality.Processing conditions that can reduce the quality of VWG are alsospecified and rheometric methods are provided to determine when damageis occurring.

The method provided in the disclosure includes determining the qualityof vital wheat gluten (VWG) in a sample mixture containing VWG ofunknown quality by comparing a rheometric profile from a standardmixture made with high quality VWG to the rheometric profile of thesample mixture. The standard mixture and the sample mixture are made toinclude the same ratio of VWG:Starch and the same amount of water. Insome examples, the standard mixture is made using a VWG that has beenprocessed and tested and shown to be good for a particular purpose, suchas for use in bread dough, buns, cereal, cookies, muffins, cakes,noodles or pizza dough. The differences, or lack of differences, betweenthe rheometric profiles of the standard mixture and sample mixture canbe used to determine if the VWG in the sample mixture will perform wellfor a specific end purpose or it was processed in such a way that theVWG was damaged.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the standardmixture and the sample mixture can be made in various ratios of VWG tostarch by weight. In some examples the ratio of VWG to wheat starch isabout 10% VWG:90% wheat starch. In other examples the ratio of VWG towheat starch is between 10% VWG:90% wheat starch and 80% VWG:20% wheatstarch. In yet other examples, the ratio of VWG to wheat starch is about40% VWG:60% wheat starch.

In some-examples the rheometric profile comprises a VWG developmentportion having a glutenin viscosity peak. The timing and strength of theglutenin viscosity peak of the standard mixture can be compared to thatof the sample mixture and differences can indicate that the pH of theVWG in the sample mixture was processed using low pH conditions.

In other examples, the timing and strength of the glutenin viscositypeak of the standard mixture can be compared to that of the samplemixture and the difference can indicate that VWG was heated duringprocessing and damaged.

In other examples, the rheometric profile includes a starchgelatinization portion and the starch gelatinization portion of astandard mixture can be compared to the starch gelatinization portion ofa sample mixture. Differences between the rheometric profiles canindicate that the VWG in the sample mixture contains enzymes that breakdown the starch, such as amylases. VWG that is made from wheat that hassprouted typically has an increased amount of amylase.

The disclosure also provides methods of making quality vital wheatgluten which include contacting vital wheat gluten with an aqueoussolution having a pH to separate the starch from the gluten, drying thewheat gluten using a certain temperature, testing the vital wheat glutenby comparing the VWG made by the process to a standard VWG:Starchmixture as described above, and adjusting the pH and/or the dryingtemperature. Typically, pH can be adjusted by changing the wash water toa wash water with neutral pH, or by adding caustic. The foregoing andother features will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of several embodiments, which proceeds with reference to theaccompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary viscosity profile generated using the MIXOLAB®instrument. In this protocol, VWG, wheat starch, and water are addedtogether at predetermined levels to create a bread dough and the mixingprocess is initiated. For the first 8 minutes, the mixing cell is heldat 30° C. After 8 minutes, the mixing cell temperature is raised at 4°C./minute to a final temperature of 90° C. After 7 minutes at 90° C.,the cell temperature is dropped at 4° C./min to 50° C. and held therefor 5 minutes. Until the cell temperature reaches −65° C., the rheologyof the bread dough is due to VWG development. At the beginning of VWGdevelopment, the VWG absorbs water and starts to build a protein matrix.Strong, high protein flours and good quality VWG/starch mixtures oftenshow a second peak towards the end of the VWG development. It isbelieved that this peak is the higher molecular weight gluten (glutenin)that requires more mechanical or thermal energy to finally incorporateinto the dough. This produces a small viscosity peak, which ishereinafter referred to as the “glutenin” peak for simpleidentification. The location of this glutenin peak can be veryindicative of gluten quality. At 65° C., the starch in the dough beginsto gelatinize and becomes the major determiner of dough viscosity. TheVWG Development portion, Glutenin peak, and Starch Gelatinizationportion are identified.

FIG. 2 shows the VWG development portion of the viscosity profiles ofseveral VWG samples mixed in a 40:60 ratio with wheat starch. Sample Bis an exceptionally high quality VWG. Samples C and D show progressivelyweaker viscosity profiles.

FIG. 3 shows viscosity profiles of Sample B from FIG. 2 after treatmentat the indicated pH levels. The more acidic treatments caused a shift ofthe Glutenin viscosity peak to earlier times.

FIG. 4 shows viscosity profiles of the Sample A gluten from FIG. 2 aftertreatment at different temperatures. The higher the temperature of thetreatment, the weaker the sample becomes as evidenced by a reduction ofthe glutenin viscosity peak and its shift to later times. In samplestreated at 130° C. and 138° C., the glutenin peak is absent.

FIG. 5 shows the full viscosity profile of a VWG sample taken fromsprouted wheat, which is known to have higher than desirable levels ofamylase enzymes. The sprouted VWG sample is compared to Sample B fromFIG. 2. The severe reduction in viscosity is identified by the change inthe strength (nM) of the sprouted sample in the gelatinization portionof the curve.

FIG. 6 shows the viscosity profile of additional sprouted wheat VWGsamples. The figure focuses more specifically on the gelatinizationportion of the viscosity profile to better quantify the level ofamylases present in the gluten, using a mixing cell temperature protocol(described in Example 5) that is different from that shown in all otherprevious figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

The disclosure provides methods of determining the quality of vitalwheat gluten (VWG), as well as methods of determining the impact ofvarious processing conditions on VWG quality. The methods involveestablishing a standard VWG mixture and comparing the viscosity profileof the standard mixture to a sample mixture that includes a VWG ofunknown quality. The standard mixture and the sample mixture contain thesame ratio of VWG to wheat starch. Since VWG is usually added to wheatflour, in all these examples the starch used is wheat starch, thoughother starches could be used instead.

In some examples, the standard VWG is chosen because of its performancein specific baking conditions. For example, a VWG that has been shown toproduce high quality bread, pizza dough or noodles should be chosen foruse as the standard, against which future VWG samples of unknown qualitywill be compared. Hence, VWG that is specifically useful for noodle,pizza dough or bread manufacturing can be identified.

The disclosure also provides methods of making VWG that includedetermining the viscosity profile of a VWG being made in a runningproduction operation and comparing that profile to the viscosity profileof a known, typically high-quality, standard VWG mixture. By comparingthe profiles of production VWG to the high-quality standard VWG, theprocessing conditions being used to make the V\VG can be adjusted toincrease or otherwise select the quality of the VWG being produced.Conditions that can be adjusted include wheat selection, extractionwater pH, and drying temperatures.

Analysis of Vital Wheat Gluten

Rheology is the analysis of the viscosity of materials. There are anumber of instruments available for determining the viscometry of dough,including the farinograph, mixograph, amylograph, and simpleviscometeis. Any instrument that can be used to measure torque (orforce) while mixing dough can be used in the method provided. Forexample, the relatively new instrument called the MIXOLAB® instrumentfrom Chopin Technologies (France) is used in the examples provided, butinstruments such as those described above will work as well. Theseinstruments are generally used to measure the viscosity of a flour/watermixture or of a flour blend/water mixture. Described herein are theviscosities of mixtures that include, for example, vital wheat gluten,starch and water. These viscosity measurements are taken while mixingset periods of time and under controlled temperature conditions. Thesemeasurements can then be graphed or organized in tables. Exemplary linegraphs from the MIXOLAB® machine are provided herein. One of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that other modes of depicting theinformation are possible.

To analyze the characteristics of a sample of VWG, the VWG is mixed withwater and starch, for example wheat, tapioca, potato, rice starch, ormixtures thereof. To establish a standard data set that can be used forcomparison against subsequent samples of VWG, VWG that has performedwell for its intended purpose, for example VWG that has performed wellin a given application, such as bread, pizza dough, English muffins, oranother desired bakery product, is combined in various known ratios witha starch. Mixtures containing specific ratios, such as 10:90, 40:60,50:50, or 80:20 VWG to starch by weight are combined with a given amountof water and the viscosity of the resulting mixture is measured overtime. In Example 1, a 40% VWG:60% starch mixture was found to be usefulto discover both VWG development quality and the effect of the VWG onstarch. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, however, thatdifferent VWG combined with different starches will have a differentuseful ratio for producing a useful standard curve, and that Example Iillustrates how to identify the useful ratio for different VWG samplesand starches.

The water absorption capacity of the VWG/starch mixture is assessed byadding water to the mixture and measuring the viscosity associated withthe plateau indicated in FIG. 1. Higher water absorption causes higherdough viscosities. From the viscosity depicted by this plateau (between2-8 minutes in FIG. 1), water absorptions of VWG:starch mixture maybecalculated. The water absorption must be considered before running arheology analysis. Once a water absorption has been chosen for astandard VWG, any VWG samples which are going to be compared to itshould be run at the same water absorption. In the representativeexamples provided, initial mixing viscosity is targeted to be between1-1.2 Newton-meters (Nm). Inaccurate conclusions can be reached ifcomparing viscosity profiles that were run either too dry or toodiluted.

After the water amount is adjusted, the mixtures of VWG and starch atthe chosen ratios of VWG to starch are used to generate rheology data.The correct water absorption will provide a viscosity profile (alsoreferred to as a rheology profile) that displays the desired initialviscosity portion and gelatinization. This profile is then chosen as thestandard mixture (see FIG. 1). Test mixtures using the same ratio asthat of the standard mixture, but using VWG of unknown quality can thenbe tested and compared to the rheology profile of the standard mixture.

The first half of the profile data is identified by a steady increase inviscosity, followed by a plateau and usually (but not always) by thesmall glutenin peak. With increasing temperature, a small decline inviscosity occurs (see FIG. 1). The time at which the small glutenin peakoccurs for the standard VWG mixture can be compared to the time at whichthe glutenin peak occurs in the sample mixture. Differences in the timeat which the glutenin peaks occur can be used to identify the quality ofthe VWG sample. The presence and location of the glutenin peak isassociated with variations in the processing conditions and/or thequality of the wheat used in manufacturing the VWG.

The gelatinization portion of the rheometric profile is identified bythe steady increase in viscosity when the mixture is exposed to heat ator above the gelatinization temperature of the starch. When enzymes thatdegrade starch, called amylases, are present in the mixture, the torqueproduced during starch gelatinization will be reduced. As describedherein the stirring rate is constant and torque is measured asresistance to that stirring motion. In most instances the presence ofamylases is detected in VWG that has been extracted from sprouted wheat.Depending upon the desired properties of the end product the rheometricprofile associated with the sample mixture may or may not produce thedesired gelatinization portion of the rheometric profile.

Making Vital Wheat Gluten

Gluten is extracted from flour by washing out the starch with water. Onan industrial scale, starch is the primary product, so cold water thatdoes not impact the starch quality is the favored solvent. A slurry ofwheat flour is stirred vigorously until the starch dissolves and thegluten consolidates into a mass that is collected by centrifugation,which is then carried through several stages in a continuous process.Filtration and/or a screw press remove the majority of the water and theresidue is dried. In most processes, drying is accomplished by sprayingthe gluten into a flash drier or ring drier, set at temperatures between50-70° C. In some processes, the final step includes sifting to make amore-finely powdered form.

The results and description provided herein indicate that rheologyprofiles can be used as part of a VWG production process, such as theone described above, as a method for quality control. For example,viscosity analysis, using the MIXOLAB® machine or other viscometer, candetermine if there is a gluten quality problem due to acidic extractionwater, heat damage, or the use of sprouted wheat for gluten extraction.Low pH extraction water will give an earlier glutenin peak (4-6 minutes)in the VWG development portion of the rheology curve (FIG. 3). Heatdamage during drying will give a smaller, delayed glutenin peak such asshown in the profiles identified as 130° C. and 138° C. in FIG. 4.Gluten extracted from sprouted wheat will greatly reduce the expectedviscosity due to starch gelatinization, as seen in FIG. 5. With suchdata, adjustments to wheat stock, extraction water pH and/or dryertemperature can then be made to avoid making poor-quality product.

As described above, one of the first steps of gluten production is towash wheat flour with large quantities of water to dissolve away thestarch. Once the starch has been removed, this water is then usuallyrecycled. With continued use, the pH of this extraction water declines.If steps are not taken to raise the pH, the gluten product retains someof this residual acid. Too much residual acid decreases the strength ofthe VWG, as may be seen by an earlier glutenin peak and an earlierdrop-off of the viscosity plateau. Using the methods provided herein thegluten can be tested and compared to a desirable standard. If theglutenin peak shifts to an unacceptably earlier time, the pH. of thewash water can be adjusted and production continued. Similarly, thegluten product is dried after the starch is separated. If the dryertemperature is too hot it will impact the viscosity profile. Using themethods described herein, upon identifying a shift in the glutenin peakto an unacceptably later time the dryer temperature can be adjusteddown, thus allowing VWG quality to be maintained. The methods describedherein also allow for the detection of amylases in the VWG. Too high ofan amylase concentration can lead to VWG that will not display goodbaking properties. When a VWG sample having high amylase concentrationis identified, the lot of VWG can be identified for sale to non-bakingapplications.

Since the methods provided herein assess the effects of processconditions on the final gluten product, they allow more cost efficientcontrol of VWG production. The use of a rheology analysis to determinegluten quality allows an operator of a VWG production process to balanceenergy consumption, pH adjustment solution consumption, and VWG qualityto arrive at the most cost-efficient production method allowable. Forexample, higher acid content in recycled extraction water can betolerated by high strength VWG. A high-strength gluten product couldalso tolerate a higher drying temperature. Such control could provide asignificant competitive advantage.

EXAMPLES Example 1—VWG:Wheat Starch Ratio Determination

This example describes how to prepare a standard mixture for use incomparing sample mixtures that contain VWG having unknown qualities.

Flour samples were recreated by blending VWG and wheat starch. In normalflour, VWG levels are rarely above 15%. Gluten and starch mixtures witha VWG content higher than 80% did not wet out well, in other words thewater absorption for this ratio was difficult to establish. The greaterthan 80% VWG/starch mixture are not described further as other ratiosare more convenient. A number of different ratios of VWG and wheatstarch were analyzed. Ratios of 10% VWG/90% wheat starch to 80% VWG/20%wheat starch (ratios are based on weight percent) gave curves that couldbe compared. A 40% VWG/60% wheat starch ratio was chosen for use in theremaining further examples. Wheat starch was used because it does notcontain any of its own VWG to confound results. FIG. 1 shows data from aMIXOLAB® instrument when running a high quality gluten/wheat starchmixture that can be used as a standard.

After water is added to the gluten/starch mixture, the resulting doughis mixed at room temperature. Two VWG characteristics will affect theviscosity profiles during this section of the analysis. First, VWG willvary in water absorption capacity. The more water the VWG absorbs, theless free water is available to dilute the flour sample and the higherthe viscosity plateau. Mixing stability is the second VWG characteristicthat affects this early viscosity profile. Mixing stability is a measureof the time it takes for the initial viscosity plateau and to drop offto a lower level. Good quality VWG can be mixed for longer time periodswithout a reduction of viscosity and is said to have good mixingstability. Weak VWG will drop off in viscosity earlier, as the weakergluten is unable to maintain its structure as the dough is torn duringmixing. This viscosity reduction can be caused by either simple mixing(as with a farinograph) or by both mixing and increasing temperature (aswith the MIXOLAB®).

For the purposes of these examples, the 40% VWG/60% Wheat starchmixtures are tested at a water absorption setting of 80% on a dry weightbasis. The mixtures were added to the mix cell of the MIXOLAB®instrument and a standard program involving a kneading velocity of 80RPM was initiated. For the first 8 minutes, the mix cell is held at 30°C. After 8 minutes, the mix cell temperature is raised at 4° C./minuteto a final temperature of 90° C. After 7 minutes at 90° C., the celltemperature is dropped at 4° C./min to 50° C. and held there for 5minutes (this standard program was used to generate FIGS. 1-5). Thetotal analysis time was 45 minutes.

Example 2, Determining High Quality Gluten

This example describes the desired viscosity profile of a high-qualitygluten standard.

FIG. 1 shows the full rheology profile of a high-quality gluten. Theviscosity plateau is well established and does not drop off quickly(i.e. good mixing stability). The glutenin peak is well defined at theend of that plateau. The starch gelatinization peak is not significantlyreduced by amylase activity. Sample B of FIG. 2 is also a good qualitygluten. Samples C and D (FIG. 2) are progressively weaker glutens withshorter mixing stability times and no glutenin peak to extend thosestability times. To compare gluten quality, one may either compareprofiles as done in FIG. 2 or stability may be calculated from theseprofiles, thus allowing quantitative comparison. Stability is usuallycalculated by measuring the time the viscosity arrives at a given levelto the time it dips under that viscosity (i.e. the length of the plateauidentified in FIG. 1). Such calculations and/or rheology profiles can beused to establish specifications for VWG that is particularly useful forvarious end products.

Example 3. Assessing and Controlling the Effects of Extraction Water pH

This example describes the use of rheology profiles to identify acidicprocessing conditions used during VWG production.

To simulate the effects of acidic wash conditions in process water,either citric acid or sodium hydroxide was added to Sample B of FIG. 2and the standard program provided in Example 1 was run. Unexpectedly,the glutenin peak that occurs at approximately 13 minutes graduallymoves to earlier times when the sample is at a lower pH and later timesfor higher pH (FIG. 3). At pH<5, the stability of the gluten isaffected, and viscosity drops off rapidly after that peak. The time thatthe glutenin peak occurs is a good indicator of the pH of the VWG sampleand its resultant effects on the VWG strength. The viscosity profile ofSample A of FIG. 2 closely matches that of Sample B when Sample B isadjusted to pH 4.5 (results not shown), indicating that this commercialsample may contain some residual acid, A pH analysis showed that SampleA indeed had a pH of ˜5.4, the lowest of the group of samples shown inFIG. 2. Low pH gluten does show reduced mixing strength andspecifications (based on viscosity profiles) can be established for thisprocess variable. In conclusion, the viscosity analysis of VWG proposedhere can help determine the effects of extraction water on glutenquality.

Example 4, Assessing & Controlling Gluten Heat Damage

This example describes the use of rheology profiles to identify damagecaused by applying excessive heat in the drying process of VWG.

If VWG attains too high a temperature as it dries, the protein denaturesand becomes weaker, thus producing a low-stability VWG product. In orderto assess if heat damage could be analyzed in the laboratory, smallamounts of Sample A of FIG. 2 were placed in a lab oven for one hour atseveral different temperatures. After one hour of heating, each samplewas removed, blended with wheat starch as described previously and runon the MIXOLAB® instrument using the standard program described inExample. The resulting viscosity profiles that were generated areprovided in FIG. 4.

These viscosity profiles show that heating caused a shift of theglutenin peak to later times and diminished the strength (Nm) of theinitial plateau. For example, when Sample A was heated for one hour at115° C., the glutenin peak was delayed by over two minutes. At 130° C.and 138° C., the glutenin peak disappears, causing a drop in mixingstability. According to these results, the poor quality of Samples C andD in FIG. 2 may be because they were overheated during the dryingprocess. Sample C appears to have the equivalent amount of heat damageas Sample A after Sample A was K) heated for one hour at 130° C. SampleD appears to have the most heat damage, approximately the same as SampleA after one hour at 138° C. To assess the impact of heating during VWGprocessing, a sample can be obtained prior to the drying step in theprocess and the profile of this pre-dryer sample can be compared to theprofile of the final, post-dryer sample. If the heat during drying isfound to be impacting the VWG quality, the drying conditions can bealtered. For example, the drying temperature can be reduced by 5, 10, or15° C. and the throughput slowed to allow more residence time in thedryer.

Example 5, Assessing & Controlling Gluten Effects on Starch

This example describes the use of rheology profiles to identify theimpact of VWG on starch.

VWG contains not only gliadin and glutenin proteins, but also variousother proteins such as carbohydrate-digesting enzymes that are producedby the wheat plant. By adding gluten samples to wheat starch and runninga Theological analysis on the mixture, not only can protein performancebe determined, but any effects of the gluten on wheat starch can beassessed as well. Once the initial, room temperature mixing of the doughhas been accomplished, many viscometers can be programmed to graduallyincrease the temperature of the mixing cell. As the dough temperatureclimbs above 60° C., the wheat starch begins to gelatinize, increasingthe viscosity of the dough significantly. Higher dough viscosities atthis point indicate higher starch gelatinization strength. When the samewheat starch is used, this strength should be consistent unless theadded gluten is affecting it. At these higher temperatures, amylases(which can be present in the VWG and therefore, in the dough) becomevery active, which reduces dough viscosity significantly.

For example, VWG was extracted from flour milled from sprouted wheat,which normally contains a high concentration of amylase. The effect ofthe amylase in the VWG on dough was then determined using a viscosityprofile. FIG. 5 shows the viscosity profile of the sprouted wheat VWGsample compared to that of a normal gluten using the standard programdescribed in Example 1. The effects on the starch strength during andafter the gelatinization peak are obvious.

In order to better differentiate the levels of amylase in the VWGsamples, a protocol to enhance amylase effects was established. Thisprotocol increases the cell temperature quickly to 90° C. and holds itthere for 35 minutes. Using this protocol any amylases that are presentbecome active, which reduces starch viscosity. A 10% VWG/90% wheatstarch mixture was used for this protocol. FIG. 6 compares fourdifferent gluten samples with different levels of sprouted wheat VWG.Sample #1 has the highest amylase concentration, causing the finalstarch viscosities to drop to the lowest level. Samples #2 and #3 havedecreasing levels of amylase (or sprouted wheat inclusion) and attainhigher viscosities at the end of the viscosity profile. Thus, thisanalysis could be used to identify and rank the level of amylase due tosprouted wheat in VWG samples. Wheat flour used to make gluten couldalso be screened by this same protocol to determine if sprouted wheatwas used to make the flour.

Having illustrated and described the principles of the disclosure inmultiple embodiments and examples, it should be apparent that thedisclosure could be modified in arrangement and detail without departingfrom such principles. The disclosure encompasses all modificationscoming within the spirit and scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of making vital wheat gluten (VWG),comprising: extracting a sample VWG-starch mixture from a productionsupply of flour, wherein the sample VWG-starch mixture comprises VWG andstarch; contacting the sample VWG-starch mixture with an aqueoussolution having a pH to separate the starch from the VWG; drying the VWGat a drying temperature; determining a quality feature of the VWG by:determining, from a rheometric analysis of the VWG, a sample viscosityplateau, a sample starch gelatinization portion, and a sample gluteninviscosity peak that is between the sample viscosity plateau and thesample starch gelatinization portion; and comparing at least one of: (i)a standard viscosity plateau to the sample viscosity plateau and (ii) astandard glutenin viscosity peak to the sample glutenin viscosity peak;adjusting the pH or the drying temperature until a difference between atleast one of the following occurs: (i) the standard viscosity plateauand the sample viscosity plateau is less than or equal to 0.2 newtonmeters (Nm) and (ii) the standard glutenin viscosity peak and the sampleglutenin viscosity peak is less than or equal to 0.2 newton meters (Nm).2. The method of claim 1, wherein the production supply of flour issuitable for use in bread dough, buns, and other bakery goods.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the production supply of flour is suitablefor use in pizza dough or cereal.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theproduction supply of flour is suitable for use in cookies, muffins,cakes, or other pastries.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingsubjecting a standard VWG-starch mixture containing a predeterminedratio of VWG:starch to rheometric analysis to determine the standardviscosity plateau and the standard glutenin viscosity peak.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the predetermined ratio is from about 10:90to about 80:20 by weight.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein thepredetermined ratio is about 10:90 by weight.
 8. The method of claim 5,wherein the predetermined ratio is about 40:60 by weight.
 9. The methodof claim 1, further comprising comparing a standard starchgelatinization portion to the sample starch gelatinization portion. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein a difference between the standard starchgelatinization portion and the sample starch gelatinization portionindicates a different concentration of amylase.
 11. The method of claim9, wherein a difference between the standard starch gelatinizationportion and the sample starch gelatinization is a decrease in the starchgelatinization portion of the sample rheometric profile.